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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26075116">if that's something you're into (well who isn't really)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/readythefanons/pseuds/readythefanons'>readythefanons</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bathing Suits, F/M, Masturbation, Multi, background established claude/hilda, lorenz is thirsty for claude and hilda together, make it horny but repressed, masturbation coach leonie pinelli i guess, stuff gets better</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:14:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,184</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26075116</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/readythefanons/pseuds/readythefanons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lesson learned: do not bring sunscreen to a lake outing, under pain of having to apply it to all and sundry. The experience will be awkward at best and far, far too enjoyable at worst.</p><p>Or, the Golden Deer go swimming, Lorenz feels just <i>terrible</i> about all of this, and Leonie thinks that's dumb and gives a pal a hand.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lorenz Hellman Gloucester/Leonie Pinelli</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>FE3H Kink Meme</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. i believe this is called an inciting incident</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Prompt fill from <a href="https://3houseskinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/1608.html?thread=2939976#cmt2939976">the kinkmeme</a>, with thanks to OP who requested (among other things) that the students decide to go swimming in the nearest body of water to cool down, which means removing a lot of layers and what's left getting sheer and clingy. Naturally, it would be most improper for a noble to find himself...noticing...things, let alone...thinking about things. With bonus bi threesome fantasies and actual communication :D</p><p>Half-modern AU wherein bathing suits and sunscreen are a thing, but everything else is vaguely Ye Olde Times-esque. Listen, modern day bathing suits are made of synthetic materials and have specific vocabulary and we've all got things to do.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You clean up good,” Claude said, gaze sweeping Leonie from head to toes. She rolled her eyes.</p><p>“Thanks, you too, I guess,” she said, shifting her oversized bag into a more comfortable position on her shoulder.</p><p>The weather had turned unseasonably hot, and their professor had decided that a little time at the nearest lake was just what the healer ordered. Claude was sporting no shirt and a pair of yellow-gold trunks cut above the knee. </p><p>While Claude was preening, Leonie made her way over to the shade of a nearby tree, where she deposited her burden next to her friend. Lorenz hardly looked up as she braced her hands at the small of her back and stretched. He definitely didn’t notice how the stretch involved a certain amount of back-arching, and shoulder rolling. Her two piece suit was modestly cut, featuring a tank-style top that left a relatively narrow strip of skin, just over a handspan, exposed on her abdomen—but <i>still.</i></p><p>“You gonna swim?” Leonie asked when she was done. Lorenz was watching the clouds.</p><p>“I plan to,” he said. “But not yet.” He himself was wearing purple board shorts with a red border and a loose shirt, unbuttoned, to keep the sun off.</p><p>“Okay,” she said and dropped onto the blanket he was sitting on. “The sun is brutal today.”</p><p>“Don’t tell me you didn’t bring any sunscreen,” Lorenz said. Honestly. He dug in his own bag and produced his own. It was highest quality, of course. Wordlessly, he offered it to her.</p><p>“Thanks,” she said. She looked at the label. “Ooh, fancy. You sure?”</p><p>“Don’t get sunburned,” he sighed. She nodded her thanks and popped the cap, smeared some on her arms. </p><p>“It needs a chance to soak in, about fifteen minutes,” he couldn’t help but remind her. Fortunately, she didn’t take offense but only nodded. He watched her rub it into the skin of her shoulders. She was very strong, and lean, and he could practically pick out every muscle—oh, she was applying it to her—her bosom. Lorenz went back to watching the clouds. No chance of rain. Out of the corner of his eye, he was aware of Leonie extending her legs, which were toned and—anyway. Clouds. White, fluffy, skudding across the sky. Yes, indeed, those were clouds.</p><p>“I can’t quite reach,” Leonie said from somewhere. “Can you help?”</p><p>“Hm?” Lorenz managed. </p><p>“My back, here,” when Lorenz looked, she was half-turned away from him and gesturing to her back. “I can’t reach.”</p><p>“Oh, ah, yes,” Lorenz said. He squeezed out some of the sunscreen and did as she requested. Her back—her whole body, not that Lorenz was looking—was hard with muscle, but her skin was soft here. Her hands were rough with calluses, Lorenz knew, and the contrast was—mildly intellectually interesting.</p><p>“Thanks,” Leonie said, turning back around.</p><p>“Fifteen minutes,” Lorenz repeated. “To soak in. And it needs to be reapplied after a few hours.”</p><p>“Thanks, Lorenz,” Leonie said cheerfully. “Let me get you a snack.” And she was up and walking away before Lorenz could decline.</p><p> </p><p>“Lorenz! I hear you have sunscreen,” Hilda said. Lorenz briefly entertained the notion that he had died and was now being punished for his sins, which seemed to be legion and multiplying by the hour.</p><p>“Don’t tell me you forgot yours,” Lorenz managed. </p><p>“Not me,” Hilda said, laughing. Her bathing suit was. Very flattering. It was another two piece, this one far more revealing than Leonie’s. The top had a high neck and a cut out area over her bosom. The bottom was sewn to look like a very short skirt and fluttered as she walked. There was a great deal of, of skin exposed between the top and bottom. Intellectually, Lorenz was aware that she was at least as muscular as Leonie, but Hilda enjoyed eating and taking her ease, and so her body retained a softness that enhanced her femininity. She hooked a thumb in the direction of their house leader. “Him. He said he doesn’t burn, but he’s an idiot. And he hates almonds, and mine has an almond scent.”</p><p>“That sounds lovely,” Lorenz said without thinking.</p><p>“Oh, it is,” Hilda said brightly. She crouched next to him and extended her hand in front of his face. The position put her… feminine assets prominently within Lorenz’s field of view. He closed his eyes and breathed. Indeed, Hilda’s skin carried a delicate almond scent. “What about yours?” she asked. Lorenz blinked his eyes open, wondered if he could get away with closing them again. She was very. Close.</p><p>“Coconut,” he said. She smiled, her face lighting up. </p><p>“Can Claude use some? Please?” </p><p>“I suppose so,” Lorenz said. He offered her the tube but she waved it away. </p><p>“I’ll bring him over here.” </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>“What was that commotion?” Leonie asked a few minutes later. Lorenz did not flinch because nobles did not flinch when their friends started talking to them. She passed him a meat pasty, which he held but did not eat.</p><p>“Hilda wished to ensure that Claude didn’t become sunburned, so she asked if he could use my sunscreen,” he reported emotionlessly. “She failed to inform him of her intention, and when the matter became clear, she required me to apply the sunscreen to his body while she restrained him. He is strong and limber, but her sheer physical strength carried the day.” His hands were still—Claude was exceptionally warm, and writhing to escape Hilda’s hold had made his abdominal muscles ripple, and—anyway. </p><p>“Wow,” Leonie said, and took a bite of her own pasty. This day was going to be haunting Lorenz for weeks, possibly <i>years</i> to come, and all she had to say was ‘wow.’ Honestly. “You know all that was basically foreplay for them, right?”</p><p>“<i>Leonie,</i>” Lorenz sputtered. She snickered.</p><p>“Well it’s true,” she said. “Didn’t you see the way they were looking at each other afterward?” No, Lorenz had not because he was staring at his hands and trying not to let the sensation of that warm, supple skin sink into his memory to <i>haunt</i> him. In the present, Lorenz shook his head. His cheeks felt dangerously hot. Leonie laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “Well you should have. You gave them a good time, Lor.” </p><p>“Is two syllables really too much for you?” he asked, willing himself not to flush any further at the, the overly familiar nickname. She huffed and rolled her eyes. </p><p>“No, I apologize, my lord Lorenz Hellman Gloucester, please forgive this unworthy peon her grievous error.” Her words were mocking, but her tone was so devoid of malice it verged on affectionate. It did nothing to alleviate the progression of Lorenz’s flush. Saints have mercy.</p><p>“It’s been a quarter of an hour. Aren’t you swimming?” Lorenz asked. Leonie perked up.</p><p>“Yes! Raph promised to throw me into the lake,” she said, and sprung to her feet. She ran off towards the lake, and Lorenz—couldn’t help but watch her go.</p><p> </p><p>Lesson learned: do not bring sunscreen to a lake outing. Or, if one must bring sunscreen, do not let anyone know about it. Or, if people know about it, do not share it. Or, if it must be shared, <i>throw the whole tube and run away</i>. Under no circumstances should one retain possession of said sunscreen, under pain of having to apply it to all and sundry. The experience will be awkward at best and<br/>
far, far too enjoyable at worst.</p><p>Then again, even courting sunburn by leaving the sunscreen in his room might not have protected him. Somehow he’d become, as Raphael had put it, ‘the sunscreen guy,’ and had been prevailed upon to help Raphael and Ignatz apply Ignatz’s own sunscreen to both of the other men. Even Marianne had shyly asked for help applying sunscreen to her back. Her blue onepiece was modestly cut but it did dip dramatically down her back, and apparently she couldn’t quite reach. Only Lysithea had made the <i>incredibly practical</i> decision to wear a rashguard and needed no help. Lorenz mentally blessed her for her wise and non-embarrassing decision.</p><p>“Are you ever getting in the water?” Oh, look, it was Leonie. She was wet from the lake, and her bathing suit was clinging to her, which was just. A thing that was happening.</p><p>“Eventually,” Lorenz said. No, absolutely not. Stand up and get into the water, then eventually get back out of the water with his bathing suit clinging to him? No, thank you. </p><p>“Okay,” Leonie said, giving him an odd look. “Let me know if you need anything, I guess.”</p><p> </p><p>Lorenz never made it into the water. He just—he couldn’t. He thought about it, and then Hilda started joyfully flinging herself through the water to latch onto the backs of her fellow fellow swimmers, strong arms looping around her mounts’ shoulders and soft thighs wrapping around their waists, and—absolutely not. Poor Ignatz looked like he was going to <i>die</i> and Lorenz was in full sympathy. He stayed far, far away from the water. (And that was to say nothing of when <i>Claude</i> did the same thing with Raphael, Hilda, and Leonie. The mental image of the commoner girl emerging out of the water, Claude held lightly on her back, both of them laughing as she ran across the sand, water cascading off their bodies—no. Even when Leonie tripped and sent them both sprawling, Lorenz did not join the cluster of concerned people that formed around them. The fools could look after themselves.)</p><p>But staying out of the water did not mean that Lorenz was spared, exactly, and when they returned to the monastery Lorenz, indeed, found himself positively <i>haunted</i> by—everything. Ahem.</p><p><i>You know all that was foreplay for them</i>, yes, <i>thanks ever so much,</i> Leonie, what Lorenz needed in his life was the searing mental image of, of Hilda and Claude together, smiling and full of mischief. Hilda, restraining Claude, while encouraging Lorenz to put his hands all over the other man’s body. Claude’s skin, not just warm but <i>hot</i> under Lorenz’s hands. <i>Make sure you don’t miss a spot, Lorenz, we don’t want him to burn.</i> Claude had writhed in Hilda’s grip, but either it was all for show or Hilda was more monstrously strong than previously realized, and Lorenz, to his shame, didn’t know which prospect was more arresting. <i>Oh, hush, you baby,</i> she’d said to Claude. Goddess have mercy, his imagination filled in the rest of the sentence, <i>You like it, don’t even pretend.</i> In his mind’s eye, he saw that infuriating smirk of Claude’s, that curve of the lips that was the spirit of mischief that Lorenz could never turn away from. Oh, Lorenz was hard, squirming in his bed, furious at himself and nearly frantic with, with frustration.</p><p><i>Don’t miss a single spot,</i> Hilda said in his mind’s ear. <i>Go on, Lorenz.</i> And Claude was smirking down at him, eyes hooded. Lorenz’s hands slid to the other man’s waistband, tugged open the laces. Claude’s cock bobbed as it was freed, and Lorenz leaned forward, mouth open—</p><p>Lorenz groaned aloud, hands fisted in his sheets, and—Goddess forgive him. Eyes tightly shut as if to deny the truth in his actions, he turned over, ground himself against the bed. His cock was aching, and even this small friction was enough to drive a vile, needy noise from his throat. Oh, oh Goddess forgive him, it was such a <i>relief</i>—</p><p><i>Go on,</i> Hilda murmured in his ear. <i>Good, just like that. He likes it, look.</i> And Lorenz looked, saw Claude’s face slack with pleasure (Lorenz opened his mouth, nearly choked himself on his fingers).</p><p><i>Skies above, y-you’re a natural,</i> Claude panted. Lorenz moaned at the praise, the honest appreciation, and strained to take him more deeply. Claude groaned, open for once, not hiding away behind absurdity and meaningless flirtation. The scene changed somehow, Lorenz was still on his knees in front of Claude but now Hilda was behind him. He whined filthily as her hands settled on his hips, slipped around to find his aching cock. He squirmed as she leaned forward, felt the soft weight of her breasts against his back, and she tightened one hand on his hip. </p><p><i>Don’t move,</i> she crooned. She was frightfully strong, and Lorenz had never been happier to be so utterly outmatched—</p><p>“Yo, Lorenz, are we still meeting in the library, or—” Leonie said, pushing open the door to his room. Lorenz scrambled up, clothes disarrayed, shame welling up more quickly than blood from an arterial wound—</p><p>“Oh, sorry, you—I didn’t know you were taking a nap. I’ll, uh, never mind, sorry, you should lock your door. Bye!” And then she was gone, door clicking shut behind her. Lorenz stared wild-eyed at the empty room.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>(Oof, sorry, Lorenz.)</p><p>Comments are a delight!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. feelings jam aka big feelings time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>"Well, it’s just natural,” Leonie said. <i>Hardly.</i></p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Somehow, Lorenz made himself presentable and forced himself to leave his room. Leonie was not in the library, and he resigned himself to wandering the monastery looking for her. He should check the training yard first, he thought. Leonie wasn’t there either. He was weighing whether he should check the classroom or the fish pond next when he passed the door to her room. Might as well. He knocked on the door.</p><p>“Leonie? Are you in?”</p><p>“...Seriously?” she called back. She sounded dismayed. “Uh, yeah, Lorenz, I’m in. Give me a second.” A handful of moments later, Leonie opened the door. Her hair was ruffled and she was flushed. Instead of inviting him in as she normally did, she leaned in the doorway.</p><p>“Oh, I’m sorry, were you taking a nap?” Lorenz said automatically. She gave him a look that he didn’t know how to decipher. </p><p>“Something like that,” she said. “What’s up?”</p><p>“I thought—studying?” he asked, and held his book up.</p><p>“Right, yeah,” she said. “Give me another second.” And with that she shut the door in his face, leaving him standing, bewildered, in the hallway. Well that was just weird. He had no idea—and then it clicked, just as Leonie opened the door again, hair back in place, book in hand.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” Lorenz blurted. “I had no idea—I can just, just go if you were—” He struggled to say what he meant without <i>saying what he meant</i>.</p><p>He was just about to say “occupied” when Leonie said, wryly, “Rubbing one out?” </p><p>“<i>Leonie,</i>” he gasped, flinching away from her. They were—in the <i>hallway</i>— </p><p>But she was just looking at him, calm in spite of her reddened cheeks, as if Lorenz was the one making a scene. “Yes?”</p><p>“Someone might <i>hear you,</i>” Lorenz hissed. She looked at him flatly before deliberately turning her head to take in the apparently empty hallway. Point made. “How can you say such things?” he muttered fretfully. She was the one saying embarrassing things, and he was the one who was worried about being overheard. The injustice was intolerable.</p><p>“Well, it’s just natural,” Leonie said. She looked at him sidelong. “You get that, right?” <i>Hardly.</i></p><p>“Of course,” he sniffed. “But there’s such a thing as, as propriety.”</p><p>“It’s not like I’m doing it on a table in the dining hall,” Leonie said. Lorenz thought he might expire on the spot, but no such luck. She continued, “No one’s gonna hold it against me if I don’t bother anybody. Right?”</p><p>“Why are you asking me,” Lorenz managed. </p><p>“And if <i>you</i> found yourself getting hot and bothered after being around our <i>very</i> attractive classmates in revealing clothing, no one would hold it against you if you decided to jack off about it later,” Leonie said, for all the world as if she was, was making conversation instead of launching a devastating volley against Lorenz’s mental wellbeing. “Right?”</p><p>Lorenz stopped in the hallway. He couldn’t look at her. His stomach felt leaden, and his eyes and throat stung. She stopped with him, almost certainly looking at him, and he didn’t—“I don’t want to talk about this,” he managed.</p><p>“Okay,” Leonie said. Her voice was uncharacteristically soft, not just quiet but soft. “I’ll stop. But—it’s true, okay? No one would think less of you for it, least of all me. You’re only human.” She touched his shoulder, and her hand was warm and seemed to burn like a brand.</p><p>“Isn’t it given to us to be more than the animals we were born?” he asked the floor. The hand on his shoulder squeezed, a bracing gesture.</p><p>“You’re still allowed to want things. Attraction is natural.”</p><p>“So is greed,” he said flatly. The hand disappeared from his shoulder, and he heard a very familiar sigh. Ah, he’d reached the boundaries of her patience. How oddly grounding. He didn’t know what to do with soft-voiced Leonie.</p><p>“There is a difference between private appreciation of other people’s hotness and, and malice,” she said, and she sounded exasperated. Lorenz welcomed it. It meant she was close to giving up on this embarrassing, confusing conversation. “And if you don’t know that, I feel bad for you.” Drat, there was the soft voice again. </p><p>“So you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable fantasizing about, about someone you knew and having to look them in the eye the next day?” he challenged, looking at her finally. She was standing closer than usual, and she met his eyes squarely. “Really?”</p><p>“I do,” she said, blush staining her cheeks and chin still tilted up in challenge, “But I don’t flagellate myself about it either.”</p><p>“You wouldn’t feel uncomfortable knowing your classmate was, was pleasuring themself to your image?” he demanded.</p><p>“In a very few matters, ignorance is bliss. You can’t hurt a person with the power of your thoughts, you can only do it with action,” Leonie shot back. “Or inaction, I suppose.”</p><p>Lorenz groaned and covered his face with his hands. He slumped against the wall. “What are we doing,” he mumbled. He heard Leonie lean against the wall next to him.</p><p>“Well,” she said, and she sounded—amused, how did she sound <i>amused?</i> Intolerable. “I think I meant to remind you that attraction is natural and not something you have to be so ashamed about, but somehow I ended up encouraging you to jerk it to our classmates. So I dunno.” She nudged him in the side. “I’m sorry. I made you feel worse, and that’s the opposite of what I wanted.”</p><p>“You didn’t make me feel worse,” Lorenz said heavily. He hardly needed help in that regard.</p><p>“Well I’m sorry,” Leonie said. “...Still friends?” </p><p>“Always.” He sighed and let his hands fall from his face. He let his body fall slightly so their shoulders were touching. “But please never say ‘jerk it’ in my presence again.”</p><p>“I promise nothing,” she said instantly. “Come on, let’s go if we’re going.” They went.</p><p> </p><p>Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was difficult for Lorenz to focus on calculating supplies for a battalion undertaking a mountain campaign of variable length. Going by the amount of crossing-out, Leonie seemed to be having trouble as well. </p><p>“Shall we take refreshment and re-adjourn elsewhere?” he eventually offered. </p><p>“Snacks? Hell yeah,” Leonie said, closing her book immediately. “Dining hall?” </p><p>“I have cookies from town in my room,” Lorenz offered. Leonie cheered. As they were still in the library, Lorenz shushed her. Honestly. He couldn’t help looking at her as they navigated gathered their study materials and walked the hallway, and again as they settled in his room and he prepared the tea. Leonie caught him looking once or twice, but only raised a brow. He was pouring the tea when she finally spoke.</p><p>“You gonna say whatever you’re thinking of saying?” she asked, accepting the teacup. He didn’t flinch because he was expecting it.</p><p>“Still deciding.” </p><p>“Come,” she said, and her voice took on a strange cadence as if she were imitating another person’s speech patterns, “Telling to me everything you do not wish me to know.” She gestured broadly with her teacup, and from the way her syllables slid and roughened Lorenz guessed she was quoting someone from her village. He sighed.</p><p>“How often do you—you know?” Saints’ bones, this was a mistake, he could feel how red he was becoming. She seemed unfazed, only nodded.</p><p>“Mostly every night,” she said. Only a lifetime of training kept Lorenz from dropping his teacup. “It’s relaxing. Helps me sleep.”</p><p>“I—really?” he hissed, resisting the urge to look around for, for eavesdroppers.</p><p>“Uh-huh. And you?”</p><p>“I don’t, um, I try not—is that <i>normal?</i>” Lorenz demanded. Leonie shrugged.</p><p>“I don’t exactly track everyone’s jerk-off habits,” she said.</p><p>“But you said—it was natural,” Lorenz managed. Leonie nodded. </p><p>“It is, but some people do it more and others less, you know? Plus,” and here she did blush, a bit, “I do it more often now that I’m here because there’s more privacy. We have our own rooms, might as well enjoy it.”</p><p>“What do you mean, our own rooms?” Lorenz asked. She gave him a dry look.</p><p>“Right. Nobles. Back home, I shared a bedroom with my sisters, so there wasn’t as much privacy.”</p><p>“Oh. So before…?”</p><p>“I dunno, whenever I had privacy and I felt like it. Probably once or twice a week, I guess?” Leonie tilted her head. “Less when there was more to do.” Once a <i>week?</i> Lorenz blushed. She gave him a look. Oh.</p><p>“Perhaps…” he couldn’t say it, “Less than that.” Much, much less than that, merciful saints. </p><p>“Well, there’s nothing wrong with that either,” Leonie said, which surprised him. She must have caught his reaction because she smiled at him crookedly. “I told you, some people do it more and some people do it less. There’s nothing wrong with either.”</p><p>“Why are you like this,” he muttered. She huffed a laugh and kicked him lightly under the table, more of a tap of her foot than a real kick. </p><p>“Medicine woman in my village, she came when I was about nine or ten?” Here, her voice took on that strange cadence again, “She was the master of getting you to tell her everything you did not wishing her to know. Strange, from strange parts, and far away, but knowing about bodies. Yes, very knowing about the body.” Leonie went back to her normal speech pattern. “She was a midwife, and she was was good at it. And she was very insistent about teaching everyone about sex and how our bodies worked.” </p><p>“That sounds—” Lorenz began, alarmed.</p><p>“Not like that. Just… what was normal, and what you should see a healer about, and how not to get pregnant. Not that we didn’t know where babies come from, obviously, but she talked a lot about, oh, pleasure and safety and things like that.”</p><p>“That is bizarre,” Lorenz said. He couldn’t even imagine. </p><p>“Yeah, but I didn’t know that because I grew up with it,” Leonie said. “And then I came here, and there are so many people—sexual pleasure doesn’t have to be this big, scary thing, and it drives me crazy to see people tying themselves in knots about it.”</p><p>“Heirs, lines of inheritance, and legitimacy are important,” Lorenz said and was surprised by how mild his voice came out.</p><p>“Yes, but touching yourself isn’t going to produce an heir. And it’s not going to <i>hurt</i> your chances, either.”</p><p>“But your, your vitality is drained—”</p><p>“Nope,” Leonie said. “It doesn’t work like that. Trust me, you’re not going to run out of jizz.”</p><p>“<i>Leonie.</i>”</p><p>“Believe me, I knew a guy who wanted to find out, so he—”</p><p>“<i>Stop,</i>” Lorenz commanded. She closed her mouth with a deceptively mild expression. Only the glimmer in her eye betrayed that she was actually an infernal demon in human form. “Okay, so, so self-mortification is normal, hooray, shall we just—” He sighed. They should really go back to studying, but, “How much did she teach you about—men’s bodies?”</p><p>“She taught us all the same things,” Leonie said. Lorenz’s capacity to be shocked was severely damaged at this point in the conversation, but he still registered surprise. “On the basis that most of the women would be having sex with men someday, and vice versa, so we might as well know what to expect.”</p><p>“Unorthodox but practical,” Lorenz said. “Completely outside the bounds of propriety, but—practical.” Leonie smiled crookedly. No wonder she had liked this medicine woman.</p><p>“Ask me what you do not wanting to ask,” she said. Lorenz sighed.</p><p>“When—a man, when he wakes up, and he finds that in his sleep, he—” This was awful. Lorenz could not do this.</p><p>“Normal,” Leonie said gently. Oh dear, it was soft-voiced Leonie, he really was in trouble.</p><p>“Fine, yes, but is there a way to prevent…?”</p><p>“Oh. Well, not completely, but she said sometimes it doesn’t happen so much if you get yourself off while you’re awake,” Leonie said, as if she was answering a normal question instead of suggesting he address one humiliating tendency by indulging in a shameful vice.</p><p>“Great,” Lorenz said. “That’s—great.” She was looking at him carefully, and he braced himself for whatever she was about to say.</p><p>“You can fully tell me to fuck off with this, but,” oh joy, that wasn’t ominous, “Do you have trouble getting off when you do touch yourself?” Lorenz briefly and fervently wished for the earth to open up and swallow him whole. No such luck.</p><p>“Um,” he said. Goddess and all Saints have mercy. He made himself frown at her. “What, precisely, was your plan if I were to say yes? Offer me advice?”</p><p>“Kind of?” Leonie said, and she was blushing, and oh, Goddess, what was happening. She was blushing and she wasn’t even looking him in the eye. This was worse than soft-voiced Leonie.</p><p>“What, you’re a, a training master in obscenities?” he asked. Any attempt to put her on the defensive backfired, and she laughed. </p><p>“You know what, I like it. Yes. Something like that.” She was still laughing. She settled, reached for her  long-forgotten teacup. “I also offer hands-on training. Wouldn’t be the first time since I got here.” </p><p>“<i>Leonie.</i>” She sipped her tea, made a face. It was undoubtedly stone cold. The question burst out of him against his will, “Who?”</p><p>“I can’t tell you that,” she said, giving him a look. “What kind of monster do you take me for?” Well that… that made sense. Lorenz sighed, reached out for his own teacup. Lukewarm. He muttered a cantrip to reheat it, reached across the table to do the same to Leonie’s cup. The tea’s flavor suffered when it was reheated, but this blend was robust enough that it was still drinkable.</p><p>“You,” he said, “Confound me.” She shrugged. “We’re done talking about this.”</p><p>“Offer stands.”</p><p>“I am appalled,” he muttered, a new rush of heat washing across his face. </p><p>“Sure you are,” she said, and sipped her tea. “But you’re stuck with me.”</p><p>“I suppose I am.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>a breather episode, of sorts.</p><p>Comments are a delight</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. jackin it</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Hey, Lor, you up? There’s like a million shooting stars, you gotta come see.”</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was happening again. Himself, kneeling by the side of the lake. This time he was spreading sunscreen on Hilda. He ran his hands down her back, her sides, rubbed the sunscreen into her shoulders. <i>Missed a spot,</i> she said, and turned around with mischief in her eyes. Her swimsuit clung to her, barely covering her bosom. <i>Hurry up, I’ll burn,</i> she said, and that was true so Lorenz slid his hands across her breasts. She gasped sweetly, and he slid his hands down under the material of her swimsuit. A large, nimble hand landed on his shoulder.</p><p><i>What do you think you’re doing?</i> Claude asked, and as Lorenz scrambled to answer, the other boy continued with that infuriating smirk, <i>It’s my turn.</i> And Hilda pushed him from behind and he caught himself with both hands against Claude’s chest. She pressed against him, trapping him, and Lorenz spread his hands against that broad, strong chest. </p><p>Lorenz, the real one, in his bed, was miserably hard. The statement, <i>Every night before bed,</i> floated across his mind, thanks ever so much, <i>friend</i>, accompanied by the memory of Leonie, dripping wet, carrying an equally wet and glistening Claude on her back. What must that have been like, to have so little material separating them, her warm arms looped under his thighs and the feel of her all on his front, his body pressed against her—Lorenz groaned, flung an arm over his face as his other hand slid down his stomach. As if hiding his face could hide him from the Goddess—a, a whine, a shameful, needy thing, pushed its way out his throat when his fingers slid beneath his waistband. Goddess forgive him, it, he—he was so <i>sensitive—</i></p><p>His fingers shook as he ghosted them across the head of his cock and traced the big vein on the underside. He was barely touching it, but it was so <i>much</i>—the thought of, of someone else handling him, touching him roughly, was—another of those humiliating noises tried to make itself known, and he muffled himself with his free hand. He imagined his hands larger, fingers thicker, callused from holding a bow, <i>oh.</i> How would Claude touch him? He, he loved to tease, it drove Lorenz crazy, he would probably, <i>oh</i>, barely touch him, fleeting points of contact calculated to make Lorenz desperate, make him <i>beg—</i></p><p>“Hey, Lor, you up? There’s like a million shooting stars, you gotta see—” <i>Fucking</i> Leonie. </p><p>“<i>What,</i>” Oh, Lorenz was up and glaring at Leonie from behind his door, he couldn’t recall making the tactical decision to do that. His cock was still hard (though softening rapidly, thank goodness), his body was thrumming, his clothes in disarray, his bed was unmade behind him—</p><p>“There’s shooting stars—” Leonie began before giving him a <i>look.</i> She brightened. “Oh, hey. You’re—yeah? Great, good, keep up the good work. Uh, I’ll just go—”</p><p>“I,” Lorenz began. Compounding tactical error with tactical error, his traitorous mouth continued. “Or. If you.” Lorenz’s rational mind reasserted itself. “Never mind. Have fun.”</p><p>“Or I could stay?” Leonie offered, and <i>now</i> she was blushing, but she was smiling, and she looked so, so friendly, and well-intentioned, and. Lorenz’s rational mind died a fast, painful death.</p><p>“Fine,” he said, and opened the door the rest of the way.</p><p>“I’m happy for you, Lor,” Leonie said as she entered his room. She seemed to mean it too. “You were touching yourself just now?” Lorenz was having many, many regrets. He nodded, wished passionately for the earth to swallow him up. It once again failed to oblige. Typical. She touched his shoulder and when he looked at her she was smiling. Oh. She looked—soft, somehow. “Great,” she said. “Um, why don’t you…” she waved at the bed. “If it’s okay, I’ll just,” and she was stripping off her boots, her knee brace, her arm guard… Was she <i>undressing?</i> He, he wasn’t expecting—“Just to be more comfortable,” Leonie said. Oh. She was still in her shirt, skirt, and stockings. That was. Good. Lorenz’s heart resumed beating. She looked at him, head cocked. “Change your mind?” she asked, and her eyes were level and kind, and she was using the soft voice, and he—</p><p>“No,” he said, “I just don’t know the proper procedure.” She huffed fondly, clapped him on the arm.</p><p>“Fine. Get on the bed, however you were before I knocked.” Lorenz did so, feeling very unsure about all of this. It was odd that one could feel so normal standing up and so vulnerable laying down. Leonie sat on the bed next to him, touched his shoulder again. </p><p>“This okay?” she asked. “Or I could lie next to you, or be across the room.”</p><p>“Stay,” he said and tugged her hand. She got the message, laid herself alongside him. He felt—he’d never shared his bed with anyone before, it was very—she <i>felt</i> close even though she’d left space between them. She propped herself up on one elbow (the neck of her shirt gaped slightly, and he wanted to strangle himself for even noticing) and looked at him. “Okay?” </p><p>“Fine,” he said. He didn’t know where to look.</p><p>“Okay,” she said, and slowly, so slowly, reached out and touched his head. She brushed his hair from his eyes. “This okay?” Lorenz’s eyelids were fluttering from the first touch. </p><p>“Yes,” he breathed.</p><p>“Good,” she said simply, as if anything about this could be simple. “That’s great. Can you show me what you were doing before I interrupted?” Lorenz shut his eyes firmly, slid an uncertain hand down to his waistband. </p><p>“I, I’m not…” he mumbled.</p><p>“Hard?” Leonie supplied. He nodded, hand still hesitating at his waistband. “I guess that’s not surprising. Sorry for interrupting you, by the way. That’s, what, twice in two days? Yikes.”</p><p>“Yikes indeed,” Lorenz murmured. Leonie caught the hand that was toying with his waistband, moved it so it was resting comfortably on his stomach. He made a curious noise.</p><p>“No rush,” Leonie said. “If it doesn’t feel right, don’t push it.”</p><p>“It’s strange to have you staring at me,” Lorenz made himself say. She made an acknowledging noise. </p><p>“Okay if I move closer?”</p><p>“I suppose.” </p><p>“Tell me if this is better or worse,” she said, and shifted until she was. Lorenz was laying on his back, and she was pressed against his side, one arm braced above his head and the other resting lightly on his shoulder. He was taller than her, but she seemed to curl around him, like he was, was a secret she planned to keep—</p><p>“Better,” he whispered. She slid her fingers through his hair, scratched gently at his scalp. Oh, that was nice.</p><p>“Try thinking about whatever you were thinking of before,” Leonie suggested. “Or something similar, you know.” Lorenz shut his eyes, nodded tightly. He’d been thinking of—Claude, and, and Leonie herself, and Hilda— his cheeks heated terribly. It was—probably <i>not</i> a good idea to even think about thinking about Leonie when she was in the room. Definitely not with her chest <i>right next</i> to his face. He made himself think of, of, Hilda, and her her soft curves and the way she smiled when she knew she was going to get her way. His cock was stirring, the incorrigible thing. Ugh. “Good,” Leonie said softly. “You’re doing great.” He twitched. Why was she encouraging him, and <i>why</i> was he fully erect now? Ugh. “Nice, good. How’s your body feel?”</p><p>“Strange,” Lorenz said. <i>Her</i> body, on the other hand, was terribly, terribly warm. The hand in his hair was terribly gentle and oddly grounding.</p><p>“Sure,” she said, and she sounded amused, and it was so familiar—this was Leonie, his friend, and she was unapologetic about her ambitions and celebrated ambition in others, and she was relentless about pushing herself, and she laughed too loudly in the dining hall and had the terribly uncouth habit of adding food to other people’s plates. He trusted her to be unflinching on the battlefield, and he trusted her to hold back in the training yard, and—oh, it was just Leonie. She might knock him on his ass, but she’d never harm him. He relaxed. “Oh, hey, there you are,” she said nonsensically. She brushed her fingers through his hair again. “Good. Feeling okay?”</p><p>“Fine,” Lorenz sighed as he—settled into his body, it almost felt like. This was him, his body, and he was aroused and warm and, and comfortable. He liked how close Leonie was. She was carding her fingers through his bangs, and he tilted his head until she cupped his cheek, and that was—nice. It was so nice. His heart fluttered as he slid his hand lower, barely tracing the hard line of his cock through his pants. </p><p>“Good,” Leonie murmured, “You really are doing well, Lorenz.” Something in him shivered, and he ground the heel of his hand against his cock. Oh, that— “Good,” Leonie was saying, “That’s great, Lor.” There was that nickname again, too-familiar but so harmless, and the way she said it sounded almost, almost sweet. He touched himself through his pants and she kept murmuring encouraging nonsense into his ear, until, blushing, he forced his eyes open.</p><p>“I, I want—” he panted. She smiled, and she looked so—affectionate. Something in his chest twisted sharply, but somehow it didn’t matter in the face of such warmth. “Is it okay?” he toyed with his waistband again.</p><p>“Yeah,” she said. “Go on, Lor, go ahead.” He did, slipping his fingers under his waistband, and <i>oh—</i> He moaned, a cracked little thing, and immediately jerked his hand back like he’d been—like he was—he looked at his friend, but she didn’t look disgusted or triumphant, only soft and warm and, and patient. Oh. She rubbed lightly at his temple with her thumb. “That’s fine, it’s normal,” she said. “Noises are part of it, it happens. Plenty of people prefer to stay quiet, that’s fine too.” She was just so—unbothered. He bit his lip, slipped his hand back into his pants. This time he stayed quiet, but, <i>oh</i> he was so sensitive. It felt, it was overwhelming, he wasn’t sure he could—</p><p>“That’s fine, that’s good. Looks like it feels nice, does it feel good, Lor?” she asked lightly, like she didn’t need an answer. He nodded anyway, let his fingers trail across his own skin. “Wonderful, so good,” she murmured. He breathed, and touched himself, and nothing disastrous happened. At length, Leonie said, “You can touch it more, Lorenz. You don’t have to, but.” Lorenz curled towards her, wrapped his fingers more firmly, and—<i>oh</i>. Oh, Goddess, it was good before, and it was good now, but it was, it was a lot—</p><p>“Oh, oh, I don’t, I don’t know,” he gasped. He tried to focus on the way she was still carding her fingers through his hair.</p><p>“Then don’t, you don’t have to,” she said. “Just do what feels good, nothing tricky.” But he did like it, it was just— Another embarrassing noise, more of a whine this time, pushed itself from his throat. She cupped his cheek, pressed her mouth against the crown of his head. “Go easy on yourself, you’re fine,” she said.</p><p>“I like it,” he admitted, voice breaking. He felt cracked open, too exposed, and it was almost a relief to be, to be witnessed like this, like he couldn’t get any baser or more disgusting—</p><p>“Good,” Leonie said. Like it was simple. “I’m glad. I want you to feel nice.” Lorenz whined again, pressed closer. He wanted—he didn’t know, but he <i>wanted</i>. She shifted, the arm that had been bracing her now tucked under his neck, wrapped around his shoulder. She gathered him up, and he shuddered into her. “Yeah, just like that, keep going. Let’s see if we can’t give you some release, hm? Good job, Lorenz, you’re doing perfect. You’re perfect, just like this.” He whined and stroked his cock, and she just—held him, kept him close and safe, murmured soothing nonsense into his ear. </p><p>“Yeah? That looks like it feels good, Lor, does it feel good? Yeah? Wonderful, you’re just right, just perfect, Lor.” Lorenz nodded, kept, kept touching himself, and she kept raining encouragement and praise on him, like it cost nothing, like it was <i>easy</i>. That nickname, he should object but it was so—affectionate, so openly fond. Goddess preserve him. “That’s good, Lor, I like it when you feel good,” she said, and he made—another noise, with a question in it, and she said, “Yeah, of course I do. I care about you, Lor, I want you to feel good. Is it still good? Hm?” The words just rolled off her tongue, as natural as breathing, and he, <i>oh,</i> he was, he was—“What’s wrong, hm? Still okay?”</p><p>“I’m, I’m getting close,” he panted. <i>Getting</i> close, he <i>was</i> close, he didn’t know if—he rarely let himself get this, this far, not when he was awake and aware, but it felt so good—</p><p>“Yeah? Wonderful,” Leonie said, and held him tighter. “That’s great, Lor, I’m glad.”</p><p>“What—what do I?” Yes, yes, he was <i>aware</i>, but he didn’t—what—</p><p>“Hm? Oh, the mess?” He nodded. “Just cup your hand over it, try to, uh, catch it.” Lorenz groaned, wormed his free hand down. <i>Oh,</i> Goddess, that—“And, while you’re down there, you can use your second hand to kind of, never mind, looks like you got it,” and there was the amusement, and it was so warm and so <i>Leonie</i>, he whined, and he was coming—</p><p>It was overwhelming, and then it was over. It was like having a wave break over his head without knocking him down. He was curled up on his bed, and Leonie still had her arms around him, and he felt at once heavy in his bones and impossibly light. Leonie was carding her fingers through his hair again. He blinked heavy eyes open, and she was flushed but her gaze was steady and open. “That was nice,” she said. “Good?” He  nodded, couldn’t help rolling his eyes. Obviously. She huffed a laugh at him, and there probably <i>was</i> something wrong with him, that he liked the sound. Oh, well. “Great. Stay here, I’ll get a kerchief or something for you.” And she rolled off the bed and did as she promised. He wiped up his—spill, from his hand and stomach, sat up, looked at the sad bit of fabric in his hand. </p><p>“I’ll replace it for you,” he said. She rolled his eyes, sat on the side of the bed next to him.</p><p>“Just keep it,” she said. “Or I guess you can give it back, but only if you wash it first, please.”</p><p>“I thought all of this was natural?” he asked mildly. She raised a brow. </p><p>“Sweat is natural, too. I’d still want you to wash it before you gave it back.”</p><p>“Point made,” Lorenz said, and cast the used kerchief in with his other things to be laundered. </p><p>“Okay so.” Leonie kicked her feet, and Lorenz found himself charmed by how uncharacteristic the gesture was. Her cheeks were still pink. “Good times, right? Not so bad?”</p><p>“Yes, Leonie,” Lorenz said with ostentatious meekness. She made a face, knocked their shoulders together.</p><p>“World didn’t end, not even a little. Good job, team.” </p><p>“Thank you, Leonie,” and it came out rather less joking than he’d meant and rather too sincere. He blushed. “That was very nice.”</p><p>“Excellent. Let me know if you want to do it again sometime,” like it was easy, like it could be simple. Before Lorenz could begin to react to that, she continued, “I bet the shooting stars are still going on. You wanna check it out?”</p><p>“I… very well,” he said.</p><p>They were. Their classmates were there too, lying on the hillside just outside the monastery walls. Delicate lines of light inscribed themselves on the heavens before fading, leaving only the memory of brightness. In the darkness, Lorenz reached out—and found Leonie already reaching back. He curled their fingers together, watched the shooting stars.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Comments are a delight!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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